


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Doggy Play Date Part 2

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 19:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: Thor still hadn’t shown up about two months after he had left Loki at the tower, and it’s been a month since Loki had discovered Aelfhun’s presence, so Natasha decides it’s about time that she tries to get everyone more comfortable around Loki and Aelfhun. She talks to Loki about it and then sets up an animal play date, invites Jessica, Luke, and Frank, and waits for the day to come.





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Doggy Play Date Part 2

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part is just off duty doggos playing. I'll be uploading two other parts to the series today as well. Enjoy!

Thor still hadn’t shown up about two months after he had left Loki at the tower, and it’s been a month since Loki had discovered Aelfhun’s presence, so Natasha decides it’s about time that she tries to get everyone more comfortable around Loki and Aelfhun. She talks to Loki about it and then sets up an animal play date, invites Jessica, Luke, and Frank, and waits for the day to come.

 

Natasha asks Loki to wait until at least four other teams have showed up before he joins them on the indoor dog park floor, so she’s there by herself when Steve and Sam arrive with Verity and Ava. “No Loki?” Sam asks as the dogs run in, chasing each other around the perimeter of the room.

 

“Not yet, I thought it’d be better if he came later on,” Natasha explains, her sentence interrupted halfway through by Ava whining as Verity speeds past on her left with a loud bark.

 

It doesn’t take long for everyone else to arrive; Bruce and Frank take the longest to arrive, Bruce apologizing for getting too caught up in his work, and Frank just grumbling about “keeping that dumbass in the gimp suit from getting killed.” Loki still hasn’t showed up, and Natasha’s about to ask when the elevator dings and Loki steps out, Aelfhun trotting at his side in the form of a Pharaoh Hound.

 

There’s a few seconds of tense silence when they walk in, but then Smash is tackling Aelfhun, both dogs tumbling across the floor in a mass of fur and limbs, and then they’re running off, Smash leading Aelfhun towards the corner of the room she and Verity have taken over. Bruce looks somewhere between uncomfortable and mortified. “Sorry,” he tells Loki, and if it falls a little short of actually apologetic, Natasha pretends it doesn’t.

 

“It’s perfectly alright,” Loki says, “they’ve been wanting to play with other dogs for quite some time now.”

 

“I thought you said they were a shapeshifter?” Bruce asks, eyebrows furrowing.

 

“Well, yes, but whatever form they take is what I refer to them as. Do you have people with fluid genders on this planet?” Bruce nods, so Loki continues. “It’s the same principle. However they want to be seen is how you refer to them.”

 

“Interesting, is genderfluidity more common on Asgard?”

 

Natasha is pulled out of listening by Frank tapping on her shoulder. “Hey, can we talk for a minute?” Natasha nods, turning to face him. Frank takes a deep breath. “Are you still doing this service dog thing? Because I wanted to know if you could get Murdock one.” Natasha frowns.

 

“Sure? What does he need one for? I doubt it’s for the blindness.”

 

Frank snorts. “No, it’s not for that, but he really can’t keep telling people that the bruises and cuts are from falling down flights of stairs, he’s starting to sound less like a clumsy blind person and more like a guy that’s trying to hide his BDSM kinks, though maybe he’s into that too, he’s a train wreck. Nah, it’s because I think he’s got some pretty bad PTSD, and something weird with his senses, not really sure how to explain it.”

 

Natasha tilts her head to the side. “What kind of ‘something weird’ are we talking about?”

 

“Well, sometimes when I drag his ass out of fights, he curls up in a ball, covers his ears with his hands, and starts rocking back and forth while humming to himself.”

 

_ Sounds like sensory overload _ , Natasha thinks, but instead she just nods. “Okay. What else can you tell me about him?”

 

She spends a little while talking to Frank, until his phone beeps and he reads the message with a sigh. “Speak of the devil himself,” Frank says, “I’ve gotta go save his dumb ass. Thanks for doing this. I worry about the bastard.” Frank leaves with Sable, and Natasha’s about to go hang out with Clint when Luke calls her name. She wanders his direction instead.

 

“What’s up?” She asks, watching as Harvey and Thelonious wrestle.

 

“Do you think you could get Danny a dog? It’s okay if not, you’ve already done a lot for us,” Luke adds quickly, “but I think it’d be good for him to have a dog too.”

 

Natasha’s not sure if she’s glad or concerned that everyone is starting to come to her about getting dogs for other people. She pushes away the conflicting emotions, focuses on the conversation at hand. “Sure, what does he need help with?”

 

By the end of her conversation with Luke, Natasha’s got a good idea of the kind of dogs she’s going to want for both Matt and Danny, and the kind of tasks she thinks would help them. She heads over to stand by Clint, bumping his shoulder with hers. “Hey,” she says. “How are you doing with Loki in the room?” Clint shrugs.

 

“Fine? I still don’t feel totally comfortable around the guy. But… I see what you meant, about him. And if I could forgive us for what we used to do, I don’t know if I really have the right to be mad at him.”

 

“You’re still allowed to be mad about what he did,” Natasha reminds him, “the only thing that’s changed is the reason. I’m still pissed about what he did to you. But I don’t think the person he is now is the person he was then.”

 

Clint nods slowly. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just a lot.”

 

“I know. But we’ve adjusted to major perspective changes before, we can do it again.”

 

“True. Also, did I hear something about you training more dogs, or was that a hallucination? Because I still can’t quite believe just how good Stark’s hearing aids are.”

 

Natasha smiles. “You did hear that, and it was real. I thought I was mostly done with this, but I guess not.”

 

“When are we ever done with anything we start? Anyway, tell me more, I’m interested, I thought I heard something about that snack in the suit getting a dog?”

 

“Stop being horny, Clint.”

 

“No. And I still want to hear more.”

 

“Whatever. Fine. So apparently heightened senses comes with a drawback…”

**Author's Note:**

> Your random service dog facts of the day:
> 
> -Service dogs have no required gear, and a service dog's gear does not determine their legitimacy. This includes common training devices; for example, my (now former) service dog in training wore a gentle leader almost all the time. I will note that a service dog should be ABLE to work without the use of a training device; my service dog in training didn't wear the gentle leader because he needed it to walk on leash properly, he wore it because I preferred it, and it gave me better communication with his head even when I wasn't looking at him (I could tell if he was looking at something that I might need to pay attention to, etc).
> 
> -This applies to other training devices too, including, but not limited to, martingale collars, "choke chains," prong collars, and e-collars. I'm a firm believer that if a device is safe when used properly, then the owner/handler should use whatever works best for them. (There's obviously a lot of potential for abuse with some of these types of training aids, but the same goes for regular collars/harnesses, for that matter. If you don't use something properly or you don't train your dog safely/properly, then anything can be dangerous.)
> 
> -On the topic of gear, no type of service dog gear is "better" or more "official" than another. A service dog in a leather harness is no more legitimate than a dog in a fabric harness, or a dog in a vest, or a dog in a cape, etc. For that matter, service dogs don't need to wear any gear; even a completely "naked" dog (no vest, harness, collar, leash, etc) can still be a legitimate service dog. Gear does not determine whether a dog is a service dog or not; training and tasks do.
> 
> And with that, if you want to see any of my drabbles or notes related to this series, or you want to talk to me about the series (or anything else, for that matter!) you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Bruce/Hulk's dog being named Smash and the original concept for this series comes from AO3 user [ thingswithwings ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingswithwings/pseuds/thingswithwings) and their story [ "Five Ways to Get In Touch with Your Inner Mild-Mannered Scientist" ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/429749?view_adult=true)
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


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